Happy Plant- Based Mother’s Day

Dear all,

I know, I know… it is odd for a mom (or mum, as they say here in Australia as well as in New Zealand and England) to write a Mother’s Day post. It’s like wishing yourself a happy birthday. Speaking of – I love presents so much, that I always used my birthday as an excuse to buy myself a fancy gift. I won’t do that on mother’s day though. The kids are way too excited to get me gifts.

This morning, at school drop off, I was not allowed to look at certain areas of the school, where little mother’s day stalls were set up for the kids to buy small gifts ( and I mean small, I think the most high- end gift costs 5$).

Last year, the selection was seriously great and I ended up with something beautiful AND useful. A tasty little make up mirror for my purse, a very cute frame and a tasteful ring, they I could actually wear. I am pretty sure that some of you had those mother’s days when you had to walk around with something really tacky- like an enormous blue “diamond” necklace that I was not allowed to take off for a minute and that made everyone give me this knowing pitiful look. The stalls at school are especially nice for older kids who are over the “drawing a picture or card for mom” thing and they would never ever come up with a Mother’s Day poem (and I am quite grateful for that…). Instead, they are having a great time choosing the right gift for mom and are thrilled to “go shopping” on their own… even if it’s just in the courtyard of their school.

In our food crazy family, the kids are traditionally making breakfast on Mother’s Day. Usually, they make French toast or pancakes. The recipes are very easy and can be prepared by themselves. Ben is the one who handles the skillet (supervised by dad), which is too hard and dangerous for his 6 year old sister. While he fries the pancakes, she sets the table. For us a beautiful set table is very important and transforms a meal into something special- which it is. There is a lot to be thankful for- we got delicious, healthy food, are able to eat together as a family and enjoy each others company. And on weekends, there is always music- anything, from funky to classical, whatever we are in the mood for.

I thought I would share Ben’s and Viv’s beautiful last year’s pancakes with you, for they are 1. really delicious, 2. easy to make for the kids themselves, 3. they only need a blender and a skillet, which 4. doesn’t mess up the kitchen that you 5. won’t have to clean for hours afterwards.

Here they are… the most beautifully decorated Mother’s Day oat banana pancakes 2014

Of course, you can eat out and avoid the whole breakfast issue altogether. But when I look at our kids’ proud faces when they call me to come down for breakfast, it makes me realize how important it is to THEM to DO something for ME and to show me that they were able to pull it off all by themselves.

My mom was never a fan of Mother’s Day. As soon as we were old enough she bluntly told us that she’d rather have us help every day than just make an effort on this one day a year that was created purely by companies to make money by selling flowers and chocolates. She never wanted to eat out, because there was usually only one set Mother’s Day menu at the restaurants, which were made to feed as many people as possible (more a quantity than a quality thing). It was widely known that the service was not great and the waiters over worked and stressed out. Plus, it was crowded wherever you went so the best way to spend the day was by ultimately ignoring it altogether and to stay home (according to mom). I do understand her point, in fact I always did… you want everyone in the family to work together and help each other every day of the year. But in reality, life is so busy that kids forget about their good intentions- not because they are not willing to help, but there are so many other things on their little minds. So, once a year, I think it is great to be reminded and to appreciate the gazillion jobs a mother does.

For everyone who doesn’t know what I am talking about… watch this hilarious video…